piles and piles of black friends

[intertribal]

Heard about this from Kissing Suzy Kolber, of all places:

A white Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have.

Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long.

"I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way," Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday. "I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else."

Bardwell said he asks everyone who calls about marriage if they are a mixed race couple. If they are, he does not marry them, he said.

Bardwell said he has discussed the topic with blacks and whites, along with witnessing some interracial marriages. He came to the conclusion that most of black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society, he said.

"There is a problem with both groups accepting a child from such a marriage," Bardwell said. "I think those children suffer and I won't help put them through it."

If he did an interracial marriage for one couple, he must do the same for all, he said.

"I try to treat everyone equally," he said.

You heard the man!  You let one interracial marriage go through soon they're all gonna want an interracial marriage!  He's just tryin' to protect the little halfbreeds from being born!

Comments

[intertribal.livejournal.com]

"and they know even less about Indians, if possible."

Considering how little Americans know...

[royinpink.livejournal.com]

true. but the surprise when i even mentioned a date before 1500 or the utter shock and silence when I explained the Trail of Tears, these things still get me. i forget that their stereotypes are born of pure ignorance. like when james was all, 'i've never seen a black person before. can i hug you?' (dethorn left, btw.) of course, asking their opinions is the best part... maybe i'll write about it when the week is over.

[royinpink.livejournal.com]

i'm a bit scattered right now. not much sleep.

[royinpink.livejournal.com]

I have an idea...aside from the ignorance, the biggest problem is essentialism, right. We're doing regions of the US right now, so I stuck in history about the South of course. But they can make dialogues, and I could make them have a dialogue where they have to pretend to be people in the South during desegregation or some shit. Not all black people, or I might come off as trying to put down the Chinese or something (like, 'you guys are 'colored' too, you have to play the black part.' yeah, bad). But otherwise, trying to put yourself in another situation is good. And I need to stop lecturing or they'll never improve their English. :P

[intertribal.livejournal.com]

That sounds like fun. Do they know anything about, you know, Chinese immigrants in California and the railroads and all that? Out of curiosity.

[royinpink.livejournal.com]

Oh man, if I tell them that, they will never come to the U.S. :/

[royinpink.livejournal.com]

seriously, though, some of them are already afraid of american racism, and after 9/11, obama gave them hope that the u.s. wouldn't like, hate them. and whenever i teach something it gets blown way out of proportion, like, "Long ago there were Puritans in the Northeast who thought music and dancing were bad" = "No one in the Northeast likes music today."